Norwood’s Graffiti Fighter Turns Attention to Domestic Violence

By SHA-NIA ALSTON

Heather Guerino and her husband Sirio are well known for cleaning up graffiti in Norwood. Now Heather is taking on a new cause by advocating for domestic violence survivors, and putting greater attention toward the issue. “I am on the frontline of this issue because I am working with parents that have gone through domestic violence situations,” Heather said. She even mentioned still seeing the effects of abuse on men and women who are no longer with their abuser. Heather’s advocacy was inspired by the tragic story of Lisa Marie Velasquez, a young woman from the Bronx who intended to

Crime File: Argument Leads to Stabbing By Mosholu Library

By DAVID CRUZ

Stabbing By Mosholu Library An argument between two men in front of Mosholu Library ended with one of the men stabbed. The incident happened on Oct. 21 at around 5:40 p.m. when the library was still opened, according to police. The 25-year-old victim got into an argument with the man that escalated into a physical confrontation, which then led to the victim getting stabbed in the abdomen. The attacker took off on foot, heading north on Bainbridge Avenue. The victim, meantime, was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital and was listed in serious condition. The 52nd Precinct has since tweeted a

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

As the opioid crisis continues to impact the Bronx, a second overdose prevention presentation was held within the last six months at the latest 52nd Precinct Community Council meeting. The precinct, which covers the north Bronx, leads with the largest number of opioid-related deaths. The presenter this time, Gavi Liebovitz, a drug awareness and overdose prevention coordinator, presented a slideshow explaining how to help someone that has overdosed on an opioid. As popular as opioids, an assortment of different painkillers, has become, it is the introduction of fentanyl, a synthetic form of painkiller that has increased greatly the amount of

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

Site Safety The city Department of Buildings (DOB) is implementing new safety training procedures for construction workers and supervisors working on large construction projects beginning Dec. 1. Workers are now expected to obtain 30 hours and supervisors are expected to obtain 62 hours of site safety training as required by a 2017 law. This comes a few months after a partial building collapse in Norwood that killed 48- year-old Segundo Huerta, a construction worker at the site on 94 E. 208th Street on Aug. 27. Huerta was on site when the building’s third floor collapsed, crushing and killing him. By

By DAVID CRUZ

Dear Fellow Readers, The year’s twenty-second edition of the Norwood News is out with plenty of community news stories to read and share. We have 28 pages packed full of news from this corner of the Bronx, so let’s start with page one! Our top story focuses on what’s happening at Bronx Community Charter School on Webster Avenue. There, students took on an ambitious project to understand the neighborhood of Norwood, the players and the issues. Read about one student, Blessing Owusu, who delved deeply into the controversial topic of gentrification. It’s a true story of the power of community

On Halloween, 14-Year-Old Shot in Kingsbridge Heights

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

The early morning conversations at Giant Sam Laundromat on Jerome Avenue and East 196th Street revolved around last night’s shooting of a 14-year-old boy in Kingsbridge Heights, hitting him in the leg. “This neighborhood is being overrun by tigres,” said a woman in Spanish while doing her laundry. The woman, who did not want to be identified, used the Spanish word for ‘tiger’ as slang for thug or hoodlum. The shooting happened within the vicinity, with reports from WABC-TV saying the boy was shot near East 193rd Street near St. James Park. The precinct’s ShotSpotter system had gone off, alerting

By NATALIE MIGLIORE of WFUV

When Gun Violence Becomes Personal The Norwood News, in partnership with WFUV radio and BronxNet Television, presents a five-part series on the impact gun violence has had on Bronx neighborhoods and the people who live in them. Shootings across the Bronx have increased so far this year, with 156 reported cases where a gun went off versus 148 shootings at the same time last year, according to NYPD statistics. The alarm on gun violence has sounded, and advocates have heard it, working toward the common goal of reducing gun violence. Some have never met, yet their lives have been changed

In Lifting the Seal of Police Personnel Records, Norwood Senator at the Helm

By DAVID CRUZ

Repealing the non-disclosure of personnel records of police officers, known under state law as 50-a, is taking center stage in the era of criminal justice reform, with advocates and opponents of the law debating the merits that could drastically change law enforcement. And at the center of that debate is Norwood’s state Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, chair of the Codes Committee and lead sponsor of a bill that would see the law completely abolished, clearing New Yorkers in reviewing disciplinary records of NYPD officers. Bailey has heard from both sides following two hearings that examined the 43-year-old law, sifting through

By JONATHAN CUSTODIO

Negligent Homicide for Accidental Shooting Police have charged a Bronx man with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide relating to the death of a Tracey Towers resident back in April. Martinon Afari-Yeboah was charged on Oct. 22 for the April 21 death of Fredrick Afoakwah. Police say that at about 5:27 a.m. that day Afari-Yeboah placed a loaded 9mm firearm on a table in an apartment at Tracey Towers when Afoakwah began to touch the firearm, which discharged one round in his neck after he picked it up. Afoakwah was pronounced dead after being taken to St. Barnabas Hospital. Cell Phone